The Good Soul and the Good Soil

UV 1291/10,000 The Good Soul and the Good Soil
But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.
Luke 8 v 15

Good soil or good ground is required even for the Word of God to get rooted , to grow and become a fruit bearing plant. A hardened heart cannot receive the Word. Our hearts need to be soft, honest and good for the seed to push down roots, nourish itself in the thoughts and meditation of our souls. Hearing the Word is like drilling a hole in the earth to sow a seed deep in the core of our being. Once it is sown, the soil should be poured over the opening to keep the good seed. We need to store or hide the Word, the promises as well as the precepts, the commands and the models in scripture. When we keep the Word for a period of time, it grows and becomes a plant, the plant becomes a fruit-bearing tree, the tree becomes a garden, the garden becomes a forest. Patience is required as it takes time to bring forth fruit or to realize the purpose of God for our lives.

We need to prepare the good ground by tilling it or ploughing it. We need to pour and sprinkle water of the Holy Spirit every day to soften the soil. We should prevent birds of prey and other predators from removing the seed planted. We should not only plant the seed but we need to mow and uproot the weeds. When we retain the Word of God and meditate on it all the time, both day and night, we will be greatly blessed. The seed will grow and the weeds will be removed or eradicated. We will be watered continually. We will be rooted in God and grafted onto His Son, the good Vine. We will bear the fruit of eternal life.

It is more important to be blessed than to be successful. To be blessed implies to be favoured by God all round in 360 degrees and all the time. Scripture says that “ blessed are those who keep the Word of God.” A good soul is not good enough for God but when the Word is added by faith to a good soul or heart, it becomes blessed to fulfill the purpose of life, to experience the full power and grace of God. A person who is successful wants to be successful primarily for his own sake. But a tree is fruitful not for its own sake for it never consumes or benefits from its own fruit. Perhaps the only benefit is that it will prevent it from being cut down. It will get stones thrown on it in order to obtain the fruit. This is why the blessed are persecuted or troubled by the so called successful and powerful people of this world. The successful do not have peace or joy. They throw stones on the blessed with a view to knock down some fruit of peace and joy. The fruit that the blessed produce are good works of every kind, good words of comfort, strength and guidance, good thoughts, good qualities of mind and heart. We are called to be patient farmers to cultivate such manner of fruit in our lives.

Prateep V Philip